Have you ever come across the story of the donkey that fell into a well, and whose owner, the farmer, didn't know how to rescue it, and so decided to bury it alive? I came across this story again today, on one of my friend's facebook posts, and appreciated the story more deeply this time. Please read on, and let me share with you my takeaway.
"One of my favorite stories is about a farmer’s donkey that fell into a dry well. The animal cried pitifully for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do for his poor donkey. Finally, he concluded that the well was too deep, and it really needed to be covered up anyway. Besides, the donkey was old, and it would be a lot of trouble to get him out of the pit. The farmer decided that it was not worth trying to retrieve the animal, so he asked his neighbors to help him fill in the well and bury the donkey.
They all grabbed shovels and began to toss dirt into the well. The donkey immediately realized what was happening, and he began to bray horribly. Crying would be our normal response if somebody was mistreating us this badly, so this donkey was responding the same way we would at first, but then he got real quiet. A few shovel loads of dirt later, the farmer looked down the well and was astonished at what he saw. With every shovel of dirt that hit the donkey’s back, the donkey would shake it off and step on top of it.
As the neighbors and the farmer continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he continued to shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon the donkey shook off the last shovel full of dirt, took a step up, and walked right out of the well. We can learn from this story.
When trouble comes, if we will get still and listen, God will tell us what to do."
- Meyer Joyce, New Day, New You, 366 Days for Enjoying Everyday Life, FaithWords, Kindle Edition
My takeaway from this story ...
When you are (or feel like you are) down in the dumps, and find that people, for whatever reasons, saw it fit to throw more dirt at you, you have two choices.
Surrender and die, or turn the situation around to your advantage. Succumb to the dirt people heap at you or shake it off, step on it and use the dirt to go higher?
It will help if we know deep in our heart why we need to get out of the hole that we may find ourselves in so as to live to enjoy another day in the warm sunshine!
As the story goes, it also helps if we'd just be still in the midst of troubles, and listen up for the Wisdom from above.
I've been there before. I'm forever glad I had the wisdom to quieten my spirit and look up for the blessing in the challenge.
